Disposable cutlery, for example, plastic spoons, forks, knives and “sporks,” (e.g., a combination of a spoon and a fork), are frequently used in informal restaurant settings and are provided for use with “take out” restaurant food. To ensure that this cutlery is provided in a hygienic form, it is often purchased by a restaurant or other facility pre-sealed in a pouch. A napkin and condiments i.e., salt and pepper, may be included in the pouch. Such pouches are generally more expensive than the individual utensils due to the processing and materials necessary to form the pouches. Also, these pouches may provide more cutlery or condiments than the user needs and, as such, may be wasteful.
An alternative to such prepared pouches is the presentation of cutlery for use in an unwrapped form, for example, in a bin or cup. As would be recognized, this allows the customer to select only the utensils desired. However, this form of dispensing can be considered by customers to be unsanitary and can indeed be unsanitary if a previous customer does not take a utensil she touched. This method of providing cutlery for use by a consumer can also be unsanitary if a restaurant worker does not conform to the recommended hygiene standards of using gloves when contacting utensils for use by a consumer. The unregulated dispensing of the cutlery in this form also permits the user to take more utensils than intended, thus resulting in less profit for the establishment.
A variety of dispensers have been proposed as an alternative to loose or pouch-packaged cutlery. Previously known dispensers, however, suffer at least the perception of sanitary and hygienic concerns by many users. For example, when cutlery is dispensed into a collection tray, the tray of the dispenser may become soiled as users repeatedly touch the tray while collecting dispensed cutlery. Also, the handles, knobs or other actuators of manually operated dispensers are touched by user after user, causing concern among some individuals. Previously known dispensers also often lack the degree of convenience and economy in operation that would be desirable.
Accordingly, a continual need exists for improved cutlery dispensers that are particularly useful in dispensing disposable cutlery in a hygienic, convenient, economical and non-wasteful manner.